THE CITY THAT BELONGS TO THE WORLD Deportment of COMMERCE AND PUBLIC EVENTS the City of New York ROBERT F. WAGNER , MAYOR Indebted are we to the many persons who have provided us with accurate information on the facts contained in this book . Especial thanks are directed to Miss Sarah Katherine Thomson, late of the Municipal Reference Library, now of Barnard College Library , and to Mrs. Norton Bclth of the Municipal Reference Library, for their aid and time given in checking many items on New York's early times. Mrs. Eleanor C. Gilbert, Associate Curator of the Home Insurance Company's fascinating Harold V. Smith Fire Fighting Museum, has been most kind, for much of New York's early history r is inseparably wrapped with the events and life of the old Volunteer Fire Department. The public relations directors and offices of many indus- trial firms in New York City have been helpful in authen- ticating dates and data with which their firms have been concerned. Miss Grace Mayer, Curator of Prints, Museum of the City of New York; Mr. Kenneth M. Newman of The Old Print Shop, and others, have been very cooperative in the selection of illustrations for this book. Finally, we feel hon- ored that Miss Susan Lyman of the Museum of the City of New York gladly took time from her busy schedule to read our manuscript to confirm its facts. donald beggs, Compiler New York City 1956 Manhattan island, which has always been the central core of the City of New York, was first seen by white men in 1524. In that year the Florentine explorer, Giovanni da Verrazano, and his navigator-brother Chiaro, sailed the French ship “Dauphine” into the Upper Bay and named the river San Antonio. Eighty-five years later, in 1609, the island was rediscovered by Henry Hudson, an English navi- gator sailing the Dutch East India Company’s ship “Half Moon” in search of the fabled northwest passage to India. Before the arrival of Europeans, what is now greater New York City was occupied by about 100 Indian stations, set- tlements and villages. They comprised some 29 local Indian groups, basically of Algonquin stock, although Mo- hawk Iroquois were the “overlords” who extracted tithes from them and made the final rulings. The island abounded with small animals and the “waal” of 1653 was erec t e d not only to keep out Indians and white enemies from the New England area, but also marauding wolves and bears. Whales and seals frolicked in the Upper Bay. The rivers teemed with fish of many varieties as did the numerous ponds and streams which once dotted lower and mid-Manhattan. As late as 1855 an occasional sturgeon weighing up to 500 pounds could be caught in the Hudson River, though earlier they were so plentiful as to furnish the staple diet of many New Yorkers. 3 Giovanni and Chiaro daVerrazano first discoverers of New York’ Harbor. These busts of them were made in the first half of the 17 th Century. Henry Hudson reported on the sweet odor of grapes that assailed the “Half Moon” as it sailed past Manhattan island on the way to Albany. Tremendous oaks, poplars, hickorys and other hardwood trees grew in forest profusion almost to the rocky tip of the island. No wonder he wrote “we have raised a very good land to fall in with and a pleasant sight to see.” Maps with strange outlines for the “new world” were not uncommon in Europe in the 16th century. In 1600 Jodocus Hondius issued a terrestrial globe on which for the first time on a printed map was shown the Hudson River in its proper location, with a large island at its mouth. Upon Hudson’s arrival, the river was renamed the Mau- ritius River by the Dutch, honoring Prince Maurice of Orange. To the English it was generally known as the North River in distinction from the South, or Delaware River. When the Dutch Province was finally ceded to Eng- land in 1674, the river was finally named the Hudson River, though for many years it had been called both the North River and Hudson's River. In 1613, Adrian Block landed with a group of traders from Holland. His ship, the “Tyger,” burned in the har- bor during his visit, and he was forced to remain on Man- hattan through the winter. In the spring of 1614 he felled nearby trees and at about where Greenwich and Rector 4 Streets now cross, built and launched the 1 8-ton, 441/2-foot “Onrust” (Henry Hudson’s “Half Moon” was 80 tons and 63-feet long). In 1916, workmen digging a subway extension at Dey and Greenwich Streets, unearthed a portion of what is be- lieved to be the fire-scarred hull timbers of the “Tyger” which, in 1613, was beached about there after it had burned, for Manhattan’s original shoreline was much fur- ther inland than it is today. These remains of the “Tyger” are now on display at the Museum of the City of New York. Between 1614 and 1624 trapper and trading outposts were conducted though probably the first time Europeans remained as actual residents was not until 1624 or 1623 when the earliest permanent settlement was established at about where the Produce Exchange (Two Broadway) now stands. During 1626, Peter Minuit, the Director-General of New Netherland, as the province had by then been named, purchased the island from the Indians. The price was about $24. worth of trinkets and cloth. The town, with a population of 200, was named New Amsterdam. Between 1623 and 1626 Fort Amsterdam was laid out. Until it was demolished 163 years later in 1790, it occupied the site where the Custom House now stands. In 1628 the first church was built— “the church in the fort,” it was called for it was built within Fort Amsterdam. The church body, the Dutch Reformed Church, still exists as the Collegiate Church. Five years later, in 1633, the church fathers opened a school with Adam Roelantsen as schoolmaster. Todav it is America’s oldest continuouslv 5 “ The Schaghen letter,” dated November, 1626, recorded the purchase of Manhattan Island “from the wild men.” Pieter Jansen Schaghen was a Deputy of the Dutch States General— Holland's Parliament. The original letter is now in the Dutch Government Archives, The Hague. . A /, 'r jtbrm. : I \ * ■< . 111 -4 4?t>«Ui / v j* i l j Ii»> rf. A %\ IT 4+14 • y*{f *4’ OH 4> < rr * h ' oi°r i \jr«Nv- J • / •■*» C,«*S Vr^iuVjaf (x < \ * * . € f 7 Vz-Al i’.%L-u.4 +A-A.Xf V> V* A. / V- » , o • * ^V v ' \v ■ . \> Vo-I ^ f^4»^r W*C€> f\*. * „iT 6 v,• V~- k 'Xj.'- W- (W»r 4 iffy-.’ 1 . . A- Vi iri 1^' /ill ’% V v />>' ,Hr4 * <- ' i <* ■yi, Nfl.Vf^ <7^1l c >* 4 '*^ jj>. v. w* j (f C'— ViW.*, ^ -2 7/ C v*v<-^ i ^ flal'X i. -S' ? v o^v“Ji .AVi . A - c >To^£t?0£’< e '+n. ( & 'l./f t/.x> ■ JiT-ce: J ’ f **>< /I 'fJ** : ■£? < c c? attended school— the Collegiate School on West 77th Street. A ferry service between New Amsterdam and Longe Eyelandt (to where Breuckelen would be founded in 1645) was established in 1638 . . . and continued for 304 years until 1942 when the last Brooklyn ferry ceased operation. Ferry service across the Hudson was not begun until 1764. Records indicate 18 languages were spoken in New York by 1642. In that year, at 73 Pearl Street, the first public meeting place or tavern, was built. A wall plaque on a loft The tip of Manhattan, showing the little settlement of New Amsterdam at about the time Peter Minuit bought it from the Indians. The Hudson River and New Jersey are in the background. !_■, ■ 7V- -■■■■ ■ j ~ ”_T ^ i - ~t * Pert rutuw lAtttjlerAam, ojr Manbahuts building at the upper end of Coentie’s Slip today marks the site of the original building which was then along the water’s edge. A small open wharf was built into the East River in 1648 —the modest beginning of today’s vast assortment of 1,087 deep and shallow draft piers, wharves and bulkheads. In June of that same year, Governor Peter Stuyvesant appointed four fire wardens to '‘inspect the chimneys (which were wooden; roofs of thatch) between the Fort and the Fresh Water Pond.” The fresh water pond, or Col- lect Pond (from the Dutch “Der Kolek,” meaning rippling water), was the largest body of natural fresh water on Man- hattan. Collect Pond covered an area below Canal Street to Worth Street on Centre and Baxter Streets, and drained into both the East and Hudson Rivers. Reaching a depth of 60 feet, the Collect was fed by two immense springs that provided clear, cool water abounding with fish. It was a favorite recreation spot for early New Yorkers. In 1796 a proposal was seriously considered by the City Fathers to dredge the Collect’s main outlet— a stream which ran along what is now Canal Street and emptied into the Hudson River— and use the Collect as the Port of New York! fvrt f~\rryjfzr^am -ffit-lDitch j\m JnrrrttcrJm C. f*44 New York City just below Canal Street , 1800. In the fore- ground is the famous Collect Pond, just about what is now Foley Square. Surrounded by hills which have been leveled in the path of progress , the area was then a favorite place for rustication. However, the City grew so rapidly that by 1815 the Col- lect had been filled in and houses built over it. Today, deep under the Criminal Courts Building and the New York State Building, both on Centre Street, the two main springs that fed the Collect Pond still pour forth their crystal clear water— at a cool 45-degrees. Continuously operating pumps carry the water off to the sewers. During the water shortages of 1950-51, a nearby garage sunk its own well for a steady supply of spring water for washing cars. The first city ordinance against fast driving was passed in 1652: No standing in or sitting to drive carts, wagons or sleds on the town’s dirt streets; drivers had to walk beside their vehicle. Penalty for breaking this ordinance was a fine of £2 ( Flemish j. Manhattan was incorporated in 1652 by an Act of States General of the Dutch Republic, and the Charter delivered to the colonists in February, 1653. 1653 also marked the erection of a protective “waal” built along what is today Wall Street. . . . THUS , within its first thirty years— 1625 to 1655— New Amsterdam became a compact and growing settlement of about 1,000 jiersons. They lived in homes that were in the area between Fort Amsterdam and the “waal”— each with its own yard and vegetable patch. A large Held used for grazing was in the northeast section of the walled town. 8 by 1659 the first street paving had been done on Brou- wers Straet between Broad and Whitehall. The cobbles caused it to be nicknamed “the stony street”— today's Stone Street. Early in 1658 surgeon J. H. Yarrevanger petitioned the Provincial Council to establish a hospital “to care for sick soldiers and negroes employed by the West India Com- pany.” As a result, in December of that year our earliest hospital was established— probably also the world’s first company hospital or dispensary. In June of 1660 a general post office was established, though it was privately owned and operated. Twelve years later, in 1672, the first overland mail service was begun— between New York and Boston. In the almost 300 years that have elapsed since 1660, use of the mails has increased here to the extent that during 1955 over 10% of the nation’s postal traffic was handled by the New York City post offices . . . over 33,000,000 pieces of mail and parcel post dailv. 9 Receipts of over $225,000,000. were collected by local post offices during 1955, while money orders issued by Manhat- tan post offices alone amounted to more than $260,000,000. Peter Delanoy assumed office on October 14, 1689, the first Mayor to be elected by the people. Popular elections, however, did not become permanent until 1834. In 1693 the first bridge was built from Manhattan across the Harlem River to the mainland at the north. The Brit- ish built the first Battery just west of old Fort Amsterdam that year, and William Bradford set up the first printing press here. Bradford, who is buried in Trinity’s churchyard, published the city’s first newspaper in 1727— 1 The New York Gazette. The first Trinity Church building was begun in 1696 and completed in 1698— with the help of many leading citizens, including a famous privateer, Captain William Kidd, who lived on Ilanover Square. He loaned the builders a block and tackle for hoisting the wall stones into place. The third and present edifice, all on the same site, was designed by Richard Upjohn, who w’as responsible for the 19th cen- Two previous Trinity Church buildings stood where today’s famous edifice looks down Wall Street. This accurate model shows the original Trinity Church which was built in 1696. It burned in a fire in 1776. tury gothic revival in America. Completed in 1846, Trinity's famous spire was the tallest structure in New York for 52 years. Exercising his kingly rights, in 1664 Charles of England issued an order for the seizure of all Dutch-controlled land in America. This included what is now New York, New Jersey and part of Connecticut. He granted this territory to his brother James, Duke of York . . . and then notified the Dutch Government of his action. The English cap- tured New Amsterdam in September that year, named it New York after the Duke, and the next year appointed Thomas Willett of Plymouth, England, as the first English Mayor of New York. Descriptions of New York City date back as far as 1670 when Daniel Denton, who had lived here for a while, pub- lished in London “A Brief Description of New York, For- merly Called New Netherlands/' In August, 1673, the City was recaptured bv the Dutch. They then named it New Orange, after the Prince of Orange. Johannes de Pevster was made Burgomaster. Six months later, however, Dutch rule finally ended as England took over again. The City and Province were renamed New York and William Darvall was appointed Mayor. In front of Fort Amsterdam, on the Herre Wegh (Broad Way), there was an open area called “the square” or “The Parade,” later to become Bowling Green. About 1677 a public well was dug in the area— the beginning of our public water system. In 1683 City was divided into (six) wards, each with one Alderman. The first Charter under English rule was drawn up in 1686 by Colonel Thomas Dongan, the Governor of the Province whom the Duke of York had appointed. Dongan was a very advanced administrator for his time, tie provided for trial by jury, immunity from martial law, freedom from arbitrarv arrest, and was the father of our General Assembly, in which the people had a voice. Even then New York City was a melting pot. As early as 1690 a dozen nationalities lived here in peace. Though the Episcopal Church was the official Church of England and thus of the Colony, Dongan, a Roman Catholic, once re- ported on the freedom of religion that prevailed and of the numerous sects having their own ministers and places of worship. In many cases several faiths used the same chapel at different hours. During 1699, the last year of the 17th century, the “waal” was torn down for New York City had grown past it. In 1700 a new City Hall was completed at Broad and Wall Streets. The oldest Jewish congregation in America was founded in New York in 1655. In 1729 it erected its first synagogue — Shearith Israel. This orthodox congregation, generally known as the Spanish and Portuguese Synagogue, is still in existence in a more recently-built temple at 70th Street and Central Park West. In 1733 Frederick Philipse, John Chambers and John Roosevelt leased “The Parade" in front of Fort Amsterdam for use as ‘a bowling green and park with trees and walks therein for the beauty and ornament of said street . . making Bowling Green our oldest existing park. Rent was fixed at one peppercorn yearly. Today the Park is assessed at $1,350,000. Freedom of the press was affirmed for New York— and for the nation— in 1735, when John Peter Zenger, editor of the "New York Weekly Journal” was acquitted of libel after having dared to criticize the British Governor’s conduct in office. New York City’s oldest existing hospital opened in 1736, when the Citv built a workhouse and almshouse in which J one room was specifically set aside as an infirmary. It had six beds and the doctor in charge received £100 a year (a wage equal to about $560. today) . . . but had to furnish his own medicants and instruments. Later, upon moving uptown, the hospital took the name Bellevue which today has 2,766 beds . . . one of the City’s largest hospitals. The General Assembly of the Colony passed an Act in December, 1737, establishing a Volunteer Fire Department which was to serve New York City for 128 years until a paid Fire Department was organized. Membership in one of the many volunteer fire companies was considered a great honor. Rolls of the early companies are filled with some of the oldest and most prominent family names in New York City. The oldest real estate firm in America was established in New York in 1748. Still operated by descendants of the founder, Cruikshank & Co. is today located on Wall Street not far from its first site. Two laudable institutions came into existence in 1754 —the first city library— The New York Society Library, now 12 at 53 East 79th Street— and Kings College, which became Columbia College in 1784 and Columbia University in 1896. 1754 also marked the beginning of America’s oldest paint manufacturer, Devoe & Raynolds Co., who began compounding paints in a small shop on Fulton Street. . . . THUS , during the next century— 1655 to 1755— New York City had grown tremendously in every way , with a population of over 16,200. It covered an area as far north as a pole wall which had been erected in 1745 against a feared Indian attack, and called “ The Palisades '—on a line about where Chambers Street runs today. Beyond, there was a small settlement on the east side along an old Indian trail, and called the Bouwerie (Farm) Lane. Here Governor Peter Stuyvesant built a country home. He died in 1672 and is now buried in nearby St. Mark' s-on-the-Bouwerie Church at Second Avenue and Tenth Street. taking only three days to make the trip, in 1756 a stage route was begun between New York and Philadelphia. In 1762 the streets were first lighted at public expense, and the oldest forerunner of today’s Fire Patrol was established. Members of such prominent New York families as the Bleeckcrs, Beekmans, dePevsters, Irvings, Roosevelts, Stuy- vesants, and others were early members of the Patrol. Though theatricals of one sort or another had been pop- ular in New York City for many years, it was not until 1758 that the first theatre specifically built for the purpose rang up its curtain— “the theatre on Mr. Cruger’s Wharff” (near Coentie’ Slip) . T he historic Stamp Act Congress was held in New York during October of 1765, from which came the Declaration of Rights and a protest sent to the Crown in England against “taxation without representation.” In 1766 St. Paul’s Chapel at Broadway and Fulton Streets was built. This Georgian edifice, designed by the Scottish architect Thomas McBean, and built of native stone, is the oldest remaining public structure on Manhattan island. In 1768 the first Chamber of Commerce in the world was founded in the long room of the original Fraunces Tavern, Now the Chamber of Commerce of the State of New York, it was chartered by King George III of England in 1770. Incidentally, Fraunces Tavern, which today houses a colonial museum and a restaurant, was not then known by that name but by its correct name, the Queen Charlotte Tavern — by the sign of the “Queen’s Head.” Samuel Fraunces, a prominent tavern-keeper, owned the tavern be- tween 1762 and 1785 when he sold it and retired. What is often ranked as the first conflict of the American Revolution took place early in 1770 near John and William Streets after English soldiers destroyed the Liberty Pole which had been set up by the “Americans” at what is now the southern tip of City Hall Park. Conferring of the first M.D. degree in the colonies took place in this city in 1770. Kings College bestowed it upon Robert Tucker and Samuel Kissam. On July 9, 1776, in the presence of General Washington, the Declaration of Independence was read to the American troops quartered at the edge of town— near the site of the present City Hall. In September of that year, the English captured the City and it was not until the end of 1783 that it again came under American control. In 1777, while still occupied by the British, the City re- ceived its Charter under the new United States Govern- ment. Confirmed by the First Constitution of the State, added provisions and much larger powers for the fast-grow- ing City of New York were part of the Charter. In November of 1783 following the British evacuation of the City, the first United States government post office was opened here, and a waterworks to supply the City was begun. Sturdy tree trunks bored lengthwise to make wood pipes were conduits for the water. The final step in the establishment of the first American city government was completed early in 1784 when Gover- nor George Clinton (uncle of Erie Canal builder, states- man and Mayor, DeWitt Clinton) appointed James Duane the Mayor of the City under the new American government rule. In June of 1784 Alexander Hamilton founded New York’s oldest bank, The Bank of New York . . . still operat- ing as one of the City’s outstanding financial institutions. he speedy Hudson River sloop “Experiment,” milt for river commerce between New York City and Albany, sailed for the orient in 1785 with crew of 15 and a cargo of ginseng, much valued medicine. This model s at the Museum of the by the Chinese as a City of New York. Commerce with the far east began in February, 1784. One of the first ships to enter the profitable orient trade was the trim Hudson River sloop “Experiment.” A single fore and aft masted vessel only 60 feet long (today’s average har- bor tug is nearly 100 ft.), she sailed out of New York harbor in December of 1785, China bound with a crew of 15. Only 4V2 months later she arrived there to load a cargo of silks and tea for the return voyage to New York. City Hall became Federal Hall in 1788, and on its bal- cony on April 30, 1789, George Washington took the oath of office as the first President of the United States. Immedi- ately after these ceremonies, the President and all officials went to St. Paul’s Chapel for a “service of thanksgiving.” The pew he used there can still be seen in the Chapel. New York City was the capital of the new nation from 1785 to 1790, and the capital of the State of New York until 1797 ‘ The nation’s first printing type foundry was established here in December, 1789. Next year from Albany came a 22-year-old cabinetmaker who set up shop first on Broad Street, then on Fulton Street where his fine designs and craftsmanship won him immortality— Duncan Phyfe. The government’s oldest marine service was established here in August, 1790. Secretary of the Treasury, Alexander Hamilton, was authorized by Congress to develop a ten- ship anti-smuggling fleet for less than $10,000. Originally called the Revenue-Marine Service, it is now the United States Coast Guard. In the center , meticulous as his product , is the workshop of Duncan Phyfe. Through the open door can be seen this famed cabinetmaker and furniture designer showing his chairs to two lady customers. Buildings at right and left are also architecturally notable. Date: about 1808. [Tgotf] City Hall in 1826. Long considered one of the most beautiful buildings in the United States , it has a dignity and elegance surpassed by few structures in our land. In the shade of a buttonwood tree that stood at 68 Wall Street, in 1792 a group of 24 brokers organized what is now known as the New York Stock Exchange. A handful of curious onlookers at the Collect Pond wit- nessed several experiments made during 1796 by John Fitch with his newly-invented steam paddle boat. Suspenders were invented here in 1799 by shipping merchant Orange Webb, in an effort to pay off losses incurred from a ship of his that was lost at sea. They quickly became very popular and those with loud colors w ? ere the rage with firemen and dandies. In 1801 the New York Evening Post began publication — our oldest continuously published newspaper. In 1804 the New York Historical Society, which administers our oldest museum, was founded. Long considered the most beautiful building in America, in 1803 the cornerstone of the present City Hall was laid; in 1812 the building completed— with front and sides of marble while the back was of red sandstone. According to one account, there was no need to spend money for expen- sive marble in back “because the city was not going to grow that w r ay.” Robert Fulton’s steamboat, the “Clermont,” left a Hud- son River pier at Cortlandt Street on her maiden voyage to Albany in 1807. She had been built earlier that year in an East River shipyard where the Yladeck Houses now stand. Her uneventful 290-mile round trip at about five miles per hour was the world’s first voyage of considerable length made under steam and proved its practicability for commercial and navigation uses. *7 The interior of Castle Garden the night fenny Lind made her American debut— September 11, 1850. During 1807 there was built off the lower tip of Man- hattan, the Southwest Battery. In 1815 it was renamed Castle Clinton after Mayor DeWitt Clinton. This fort, with its 8-foot thick walls, never saw war service, and in 1824 it became Castle Garden . . . with 6,000 seats it was the nation’s greatest entertainment center. It was there in 1850 that the “Swedish nightingale,” Jenny Lind took the city by storm with her voice and personality. Her opening concert netted her a record $12,600. She donated the entire amount to New York cultural and philanthropical societies. Later, from 1855 1890, Castle Garden served as the predecessor to the now defunct Ellis Island and was the nation’s principal immigration station. From 1890 to 1941 millions visited Castle Garden in its famous role as The Aquarium. The upper floors have now been removed and Castle Clinton is resuming its original shape as a fort, though only for historical purposes. January of 1822 found both the East and Hudson Rivers completely frozen from shore to shore to below the Battery. People crossed on foot from Manhattan to Brooklyn, Gov- ernor’s Island and Pauler’s Hook (now Jersey City). Later that year, when the weather w^s warm and balmy, the Hudson River Day Line began operation of its river boats up and down the lordly Hudson. The Day Line still furnishes a day of pleasant relaxation and magnificent scenery to over 600,000 excursionists yearly. 18 In this cozy farmhouse in suburban Chelsea— site near the present London Terrace Apartments on 23d Street and Ninth Avenue —Clement C. Moore, professor of Greek and Hebrew literature at Columbia College, wrote “ The Night Before Christmas’’ in 2823. “ Twas the night before Christmas, and all through the house . . begins Clement C. Moore’s delightful poem known to all. He wrote it here in 1823. His home no longer stands and the orchard which adjoined it is now occupied by General Theological Seminary (Episcopal) on Ninth Avenue between 20th and 21st Streets. Moore is buried in Trinity’s uptown cemetery at Amsterdam Avenue and 153rd Street. In 1824 the entire City turned out to honor the aging Marquis de LaFayette for a solid week of fetes during his return visit to our land. With great ceremony, the Erie Canal was opened in the autumn of 1825. People and freight were then able to go from New York City to Buffalo within ten days. This was the great factor in opening up to domestic and foreign com- merce the states west of New York for there were no high- ways and through railroad service was not to be available for another 25 years. In 1825 illuminating gas was first supplied to the City, and high schools were established. In 1830 a stage line was opened between Bowling Green and Bleecker Street in suburban Greenwich (Village). The route was via Greenwich Street which then bordered the Hudson River. The trip took an hour. Two years later, the first horse-drawn streetcar railroad in the w ? orld made its initial trip between Prince and 15th Streets. By 1834 there was half-hour daily service on the Harlaem Rail Road be- tween Prince Street and Yorkville — which w T as then a sep- arate community. The fare was 12V2 cents. Hacks w r ere introduced to New York in 1840 at the old Astor House on low’er Broadway at John Street. They were immediately popular. The first auto taxicabs appeared here in 1907 although open-air electrically operated (using stor- age batteries) cabs w r ere used briefly about 1898. During the 19th century, New York City enjoyed an economic and commercial boom of a scope never before known to man. Its superbly located, easy access harbor, greatly aided by the successive events of the end of the War of 1812 and the opening of the Erie Canal in 1825, per- mitted fortunes and great businesses to be established al- most overnight. The expansion of railroad service to the midwest, the introduction of the speedy clipper ship — which was first designed and built here— and the gold rush to the far west, combined to further the tempo of business and life in this fast-growing city. Then followed the Civil War and the tremendous surges of European migration that poured into New York City. Many industrial developments — especially powerful steam-driven machinery such as trains and ships . . . the latter further aided first by iron then steel hulls and finally by Ericsson’s screw propeller— all contributed to the rapid rise of New York City as the world’s focus point. And the events of the first half of the 20th century have more strong- ly entrenched this leadership here. Here shipping and commerce established as a fact that apt phrase “via the Port of New York’’ long before publicity men coined it as a slogan. And supplying the all-important marine needs for this insatiable growth were the New York shipyards— the nation’s greatest concentration for many years. The Smith & Dimon Shipyard , located along the East River between jth and $th Streets , was one of many busy shipyards in the early 19th century. This painting , made by James Pringle in 1859, shows the hand-made processes involved in building a ship. I11 most cases, the shipwrights went to the lumber pile , selected the wood they wanted, cut it to size and shape , carried it to the ship , and fitted it into position themselves. This advertisement , about 186 3, shows the progress made in shipbuilding compared with the state of the industry as shown at Smith & DimoiTs yard on page 20. It has been related that on one day during the heyday of the windjammer, a man counted over 800 sailing ships docked in New York City. Two dozen famous shipyards on the East River and Hudson River buzzed with activity for years. Hundreds of sturdy packet ships slid down the ways during the 1820's and ^o’s. They were followed in the ’40’s by the sleekest clipper ships that ever sailed the seven seas— such as the New York-built “Sea Witch,” which in 1848 set an all-time record of 74 days from China ’round Cape Horn to New York. Though no longer the leader in shipbuilding, New York City is today one of the greatest ship repair and conversion centers in the world. Facilities are here to repair 400 ships at once— 200 in a dozen shipyards, and 200 more at their own piers or in midstream anchorages. Todd Shipyard’s Brooklyn yard has a 36,000 ton graving dock that can hold a 730-foot long ship . . . the size of the “Cristoforo icc 10? WALL MARINE RAILWAYS TMC cOMfAur have now in operation two sirs Of ways with one imtaa CAADit. enabling them to accommodate TMWit laaci vtssets. Capacity of the largest ways 7700 tows burthen and a steamboat length of 4S0 feet Draft of water for vasal* of ordinary length t4 feel Capacity of tmaUer waya tOOO TOWS Tha arrangement and structure of die ways and machinery are believed to be uneuuaRed in the Country and afford facilbtiet far taking out »»idi at ratea very far below the Current City prices Unusual facilities are afforded for taking out wWiCHIO and Suwutw vtsut $ and CUTT/wg tm TWO and LtWQTfUWim « YiSSltS Carpenter* . Caulkers Joiners. Ship Smith*. Painter* Ac are at the preouae* and maternal of every description furnished who* desired also boats for towing vessels to and from (ha ways Belonging to the ways these u an iKCtlttw r wwAAf. with plenty of water and out of tne tide way. K 4 (fV% * ^ ijki JM/y > vaOHilliS 21 fl he “ Ouecn of (Bermuda,” 610 feet S a ong, gets an overhauling n Todd Shipyard’s 731-foot long graving dock in Brooklyn. Colombo” or the “Nieuw Amsterdam.” The largest of 40 drydocks in the port, only seven ocean liners are too long to fit into it. Too, the nation’s largest commercial floating drydock (25,000 tons capacity) is located in Brooklyn. In a disastrous pre-Christmas fire on December 16 and 17, 1835, over 670 buildings crammed with merchandise were destroved in an area east of Broadway, south of Wall Street, and to the East River. This was New York’s largest and most costly conflagration, with losses set at $80,000,000. by today’s values. The City’s 64 volunteer fire companies were powerless in the face of intense heat, collapsing buildings and a 17-degree below zero temperature. Fire companies from as far as Philadelphia came to aid. Old Croton Aqueduct and reservoir were completed in 1842, providing New r York City with its first general and adequate water supply system. The reservoir was built where the New York Public Library main building at Fifth Ave- nue and q2d Street now stands. Morris Robinson, a Nova Scotian who was Cashier of the Bank of the United States, established the principles of modern life insurance on the American continent in 1843. That year he founded the Mutual Life Insurance Company of New York at 56 Wall Street on the site of Captain Kidd’s Farm. In 1844 the uniformed police force was organized. Not then called “cops,” they were better known as “leather- heads” — from the heavy leather helmets they wore. The nation began using postage stamps on mail in January, 1847, when they were put on sale here. In 1848 the New York newspapers joined with the Magnetic Telegraph Company to form the AP (Associated Press) for the faster and more reliable transmission of news. In 1848, Richard M. Hoe built in his New 7 York City shop, the first perfected high-speed printing press, and later many of the early big rotary presses that preceded the giant newspaper presses of today. Almost every major inven- tion and improvement in the field of high-speed presses can be directly credited to his skill and ingenuity. Born here in 1812, the business which bears his name is still a major producer of large presses for printing. In- 1851, from their new terminal on East Broadway between Chambers and Warren Streets, the New York and Hudson River Rail Road Company began rail service to Albany. THE CITY THAT BELONGS TO THE WORLD . . . THREE CENTURIES OF EXPANSION IN NEW YORK CITY.1 655 tol 955 DENSITY OF BOROUGH FOUNDED ORIGINAL FIRST POPULATION POPULATION PRESENT POPULATION NAME SETTLEMENT IN 1790* IN 1955 AREA IN SQ. Ml. PER. SQ. Ml. Manhattan (County of New York) 1624 Niew Nederland Southern tip of Manhattan 33,131 1,898,000 22.3 8,511 Kings (County of Kings) 1636 Breuckelen Gowanus Kill 4,495 2,731,000 76.1 3,600 Brooklyn Bronx (County of The Bronx) 1641 Bronck's land Near 149th St. & Bruckner Blvd. 1,761 1,500,000 43.4 3,424 Queens (County of Queens) 1645 Queens Vlissingen (Flushing) 6,159 1,693,000 112.9 1,500 Richmond (County of Richmond) 1661 Staaten Eylandt Oude Dorp (Old Dorp) 3,835 202,000 60.3 335 Staten Island (State Island) * 1790: date first national U.S. census was taken. KEY TO MAP: Population Growth 1 1655 City was to the “waal” 1,000 2 1755 City was to "The Palisades" 16.200 3 1855 City was to about 42d St. 629,800 Today 1955 City of Five Boroughs 8,010,000 NEW JERSEY STATEN ISLAND first setfQ/in 1639 at Of/ Dorj), (now ScruinBmfi) * 16 V V BRONX : first setdeefm 1641 wtwetHe JXcwHcwm 'freiadt yard id ww ^ httan d> 14 vr mm \ first settled between 4635 rind 1640 at dfdsfimj QUEENS'* s # m, tfte X ... e orumin ’ ■ ’ ' j 1 fare 3uft